The Age of the Influencer

Using a public figure/celebrity to endorse or promote a brand or business, isn’t anything new. For decades, brands have used famous people to promote their wares but in recent years there has been a shift, with brands now turning their attentions to social media influencers. Prominent figures within their sector, social media influencers have a captive audience at their disposal, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed to savvy brands.

Rewind over a decade to 2005 and social media is beginning to take root with the launch of one of today’s most successful social media platforms…

2005 - YouTube was established

Originally a platform for sharing funny videos with other users, YouTube quickly became one of the fastest growing platforms in the entire worldwide web.

2009 - The influencer phenomenon kick-started

2009 saw a huge influx in bloggers and YouTubers with some of today’s biggest influencers such as Zoella, Alfie Deyes, Tanya Burr and PewDiePie beginning to take the world by storm in 2009. PewDiePie in particular has made the biggest impact and is now the highest paid YouTuber and influencer earning more than $124 million since 2010.

2010 - Instagram was founded

Instagram was something of a game changer for both influencers, brands and consumers. It allowed influencers to move their social standing across to a new platform, reach more followers and cross promote their platforms from the outset. Brands were then able to tap into influencers’ following and pay for them to use sponsored posts on their account. Consumers then had a platform to gain insight into the influencers’ lifestyle, gain product recommendations and inspirations at the click of a button.

2013 - The power of a tweet

Reinforcing the power and sway social media has on the world, a false tweet posted on an account in April 2013 temporarily wiped out over $130 billion off the US stock market. At that time Twitter had more than 310 million monthly active users!

2015 The stats are beginning to stack up

This was the year when it came to light that 63% of millennials claimed to keep updated on brands through social networks. * www.socialeemedia.co.uk

This was arguably the same year where more and more brands turned their attention to social media marketing.

2017 - L’Oréal reaches millions with a huge social media campaign

Earlier this year, beauty brand L’Oréal recruited 15 celebrities and influencers to stand as the endorsement for their Confidence Training Programme which promotes self-worth as oppose to self-doubt, in association with The Prince’s Trust. Of the 15, nine of them were social media influencers – including Marcus Butler and Emily Canham – who have a combined Instagram following of 6,103,000!

Now, brands no longer have to seek out influencers themselves, thanks to the help of Influencer Champions who help pair top brands with high-profile social media influencers for campaigns, sponsored posts and brand ambassadorships. For more information, please contact Amelia Neate and team on 08453 31 30 31 or email aneate@influencerchampions.com